As of this writing there are well over 200,000,000 hits found on Google when searching for the word “designer.”
While it's not a scientific number by any means, the 200 million number does demonstrate a popular thing that's happening: there are a hell of a lot of designers out there. So what sets the great designers apart from the average Joes? What can you do to make sure that you're not just following the crowd? What makes some of the historical designers of the past several decades so widely successful?
Here are a few tips I've learned over the past 10 years while working closely with some of the most inspirational, life-changing designers the world has known recently.
FIND YOUR OWN STYLE BY IGNORING TRENDS.
Trends are constantly shifting in one direction or another. Putting your talents into a trend means that you'll only be behind everyone else when the trend changes; and if the history of design has taught us anything it's that the trends of today will be gone tomorrow.Instead of investing your time in trendy techniques and details, focus yourself on the design work that makes you happy and makes you feel accomplished.Over a long time you'll develop a sense for what looks really good to you and what doesn't. You'll have almost an overwhelming affinity with what sets "good" design apart from "bad" design. It's that personal sense of defining good design that many refer to as “style.” A designer who posses his or her own developed style is worth far more than a designer who simply follows on the coattails of trends.
Ignore the trends, focus on your own sense of design style.
WORK HARD, BUT PLAY HARD TOO.
There never has been and never will be a designer who takes themselves or their work too seriously.Clients come and go, so do projects. Fame – if you're lucky enough to achieve it – doesn't last forever. The only part of design that you should take seriously is your enjoyment from doing it.If you ever find yourself waking up and being completely overwhelmed with the work you have to do: remember that design is just as much of a game as it is a job, or hobby, or pastime. Enjoy the work you do and you'll find that when you have to buckle down on the parts that are never much fun, you'll still be smiling as you go.
FOCUS ON THE DETAILS, EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T MATTER.
Have you heard the story of Steve Jobs calling up Google on a Sunday afternoon to complain about the hue of yellow that appeared on an icon? Steve Jobs knew that even the most minute details in a design matter, and the results of his approach to pixel-perfect design are evident in the success of the MacBook, iPad, and iPhone.Most people will never consciously acknowledge the small details of a design – the subtle change of a color or a 1px shadow or the mathematical curve of a serif – but there is certainly some subconscious acknowledgement of the smallest design elements that many of us poses. Focus on the smallest details and they will undoubtedly affect the grander design.
ACT LIKE YOU'RE WORTH IT.
Too many designers cut themselves short when it comes to work.Yes, there is a large amount of competition in the design industry, but that doesn't mean you should charge a phenomenally low price just to get a job. Maybe at first, ok, but after one or two jobs you should be charging what a number of professional designers charge for a design.Why? Because if you don't start acting like you're worth the weight in gold that you want to be, you'll never take your design work seriously. Plus: if you're getting into design for quick and “easy” money, you're pursuing the wrong career path.Be the type of designer that wants to do good work for a good price. That's the type of designer that becomes great.
HANG IN THERE.
Design isn't easy. Millions of people go into design thinking they can do it because they were a great artist or because they downloaded a copy of Photoshop or because their friend or neighbor had them design a website, then they give up when the competition becomes overwhelming. Those people, more often than not, give up after only a few years.Becoming a great designer takes more than a few years. Do not give up.Time lets you define your skills and your sense of what makes a timeless piece of design justly so. The more you design, the better you will become. It's a universal truth that nobody can deny.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.
If you don't believe that you can be a great designer, you never will be.Of course, believing you'll be a great designer won't make you one right away either, just as simply “believing“ you can write a novel won't put the written pages in your lap. But there's a lot to be said about the willpower that can be drawn from simply believing that you can become a great designer.
What are you waiting for?
No matter where you are at in your design career, or what your goals are, or where you work and who you work with: believe that you can be a great designer, hang in there, focus on the details, play just as hard as you work hard, and dedicate yourself to finding your own style, and you will be a great designer.
I have no doubts about it.
TANNER CHRISTENSEN.
Founder of Aspindle
